Railroad car hand brake



Nov. 21, 1944. R. w. BURNETT 2,353,393

RAILROAD CAR HAND BRAKE Filed Nov. 14, 1.941 3 Sheets-Sheet l 1944- R. w. BURNETT RAILROAD CAR HAND BRAKE Fild Nov. 14', 1941 s Sheets-Sheet 2 1 3 N Q r M m w n .0 a P as W m u c \w F 6 wm i h v Q N. Q Q \\..N\.

I F a H Nov. 21, 1944. w BURNETT RAILROAD CAR mum BRAKE Filed Nov. 14, 1941 s Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR m N W a m M F Patented Nov. 21, 1944 v ichard WQBurnett nett,"execu'trix of ,fcmca-go;1113mm 'Bur-' i aid Richard W. Burnett-ileceased, assignor to Marie Burnett 1 @Applicatioh No ember 14, 194i, 'sjriaiNmuacsr This. invention relates to a :railroad brake and more particularly to the drum thereof. V Oneof 'theobjects of this .inventionvis to :pro-

vide a railroad-car hand "brake :drum which is? simple, thoroughly practical, and durable JS pi-ral drumsand other expedients have been rethroughout an extended period of operation.

Another object is to provide a brake drum of the above character which 'is operable to efficiently take up a'maximum cfchain with a maximum of power; Anotherobjectis to provide a brak drum :o'f-gtlie above character in which the structural elements "are :so disposed. as to attain a high degreeof strength without heav construction. A further'object is to provide a brake drum of the above character which may be 'safe lyused in con- 4 Claims; (01. 254449) car hand windin drum having a ple cap y Without reducing :the e'fiiciency of the winding mechanism.

sorted to butwithindifierent successbecause of resulting bulkiness of the brake-and power loss through excessive ffmfction. Accordingly, it .is another-object of this invention to provide ahand ibrake for a railroad car which obviates the above difiiculties in a thoroughly practical and efiicient H l f: .Q

Referring now -.to Figure 2, the hand brake, generally indicated at lg-includesaho'using comprising front :and back plates H .and ;I2 between which is.-moun te d hand brake mechanism similar v junction with a hand brake "by brakemen to con'- ir I -tro'1 with-a minimum of effort the movement of 'a part obvious and in part pointed' out hereinafter.

The inv'ention accordingly consists in the .fea-

fre'ight car. Other-"object's will be in in the structure to be hereinafter described, and

f tu're's' of construction, combinations of elements, "i arrangements of-parts as will be exemplified the s'co'p'e of *theappl'ication of which will-be im di'cated in-th'e following claims.

In the drawings in which is shown one of the various embodiments of my invention, 7 Kfj f ure 1=is"'a:jsectional elevation of a railroad car hand 'brakeshowing the brake' chain wound Figure 2"is-' a Fsectional elevationtaken along the line 1-1 of'liigure l, showin'g portions of the "brake -s'hown"in%1=igure"-1- and having the drum positioned in release or o'fi position i Figure 3 is'a vertical taken on the-line -33 of Figure 2;

Figure '4'is avertical sectional elevation ofthe drum gear 'wheel showing the-a-nchorfmem'ber whicl'r connects the chain to'the drum taken-from the line-"44 of'Figu're'3;-* 5

I Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view, on an enlarged scale, ta'ken on the "line; 5-5 of "Figure vFigure 6 is *a sectional 'View taken on the line 6 6 of Figure 3. 7 I Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout "the several views of the drawings.- I As conducive to -fa-clearer understanding of certain features of this invention, it might mere be pointecl out that railroad car hand brakes-should be sturdy and "well able to withstand hard usage, while -at the; same time they must be compact as the space between "cor'i'n-ected;cars is limited. -In achieving ,coinpactne ss gof {construction however,

fsectional view ofthe Y to. t at shownsm Bur e P tent N 2, 6, iThiszmechanism'includes :a shaft 13 upon which 1a zcombined gear and winding drum, generally indicatedat 15 (Figures ,1, and gz), is mounted, and

aaeear It meshing with the w n in rum ae kr :and mountedgon .a shaft il 8 which has a vertical "hand wheel (not shown). iconnected o its 2 1 6 :end. A- 'ratchetwheellfl :is mounted onand ,connetted :to shaft I18, {and a'trip shaft 20 turned .bytalleve'r' lnoltsshownt moves ;a {pawl ;2;l (Figure l) :intoandnut ;of vengagement zwithrratchet wheel $119. .flfn-zoperation, the hand wheel turns shaft 1:8 Which/drives :the .gear and winding drum |":5 'throug hggear.t'6,1esu1ting;in:the take-up of the chain,generallyrindicatedat.523. "During winding,

as :describedin iBumett'PatentiNo. 236,563, pawl -21 prevents reverse movement :of sthe drum by 0.0-

acting. with the ratchet "wheel whichvis positively connected llQITthe windingfldrum through shaft.

l8, gear 16, and the winding :drum 'gear.- The brake is :released :by moving the pawl 'out of engagement 'iwith rthe ratchet wheel which permits the drum'tozturnto release or iofl position.

dicated 3 L Combined gear zandiwinding drum 15 (Figures 1 and 2) comprises :a gear 30 integrallyor otherwise Lconnected .wit'hl'a *windi'ng drum generally in- Preferably" winding drum -3l r'(Figures-2.5anii'3') is integrally formedwith 'the web of I geartifl and extends axially therefrom to provide a 'hu b portion' 32 whi'c'his rotatably borne by :stud tor-shaft Preferably drum 3| is rec centric in form, the eccentricity being designed in accordance'with powerrequis'ites, and it is pro vided with la' 'channel 33 "extending therearound formed to receive the alternate vertical =links 23a faceof the dru'm comprises-a series of pairs of substantially flat lirik supporting surfaces separated "by channel'33;-the-supporting portions of each pa'ir of surface being substantially parallel to each other and i being 'angula-rly disposed with respect *to the -preceding 'and --following pairs of surfaces. The central portions of each pair of surfaces are convexly curved (Figures 1, 3 and 4), and the ends of these surfaces which contact the leading ends of links 23b have pairs of bosses 34, 35, 36, and 31 formed on them which contact opposite sides of links 231). Referring to Figure 1, it will now be clear that horizontal links 231) are supported by the centers of the convex portions and the bosses of each pair of link supporting surfaces, and that the alternate vertical links extend into channel 33.' Thus, links 23a all lie in substantially the same plane which precludes the necessity of providing a spiral or helical winding drum and accordingly makes possible a compact structure, and each horizontal link is supported at four spaced points which results in a minimum of friction.

Referring to Figures 2 and 3, it may be seen that the winding drum includes two sections, one connected to gear 30 and the other pivotally connected to the first-mentioned section. The second section forms both an anchor member 38 connecting end link 23b?) to the drum and a continuation of the windin surface of the drum when the chain is wound thereon (Figure 3) Anchor member 38 has an outer end 38a to which the chain is attached and an enlarged inner end 381) which is pivotally connected to the drum between the section of the drum to the right'of groove 33, as viewed in Figure 2, and gear wheel l5. The left-hand section of the drum, as viewed in Figure 2, has a channel I00 formed therein extending outwardly radially from the axis thereof (Figures 2, 3, and ceive the left-hand portion of the inner end of anchor member 38. A rivet 39 extends through gear wheel l5, anchor member 38, and the outer portion of the drum pivotally mounting the a chor member on the drum. Anchor member 38 is of slightly less thickness than the width of groove 33 (Figures 2 and 4), and thus, when the chain is wound on the drum as shown in Figure 3, the anchor member pivots down into the groove.

Referring to Figure 5, it may be seen that anchor member 38 and the drum are so constructed that the anchor member is effectively braced if the brake accidentally winds inthe wrong direction. If the drum is turned in'the wrong direction,the anchor member pivots ba'ekwa'rdly into groove 33 (Figure 4) until it abuts against the surface lfll (Figure 5) at the bottom of groove 33 which is shaped to form an effective support for the back of anchor member 38.

Preferably the axis of rivet 39 is as close as possible to, the axis of the winding drum in order to provide a short initial power arm, and anchor member 38 has a curved inner side which conforms substantially to hub 32 of drum. 3| (Figure 3). The outer side 42 (Figure 1) of anchor member 38 is preferably curved to receive the edge of vertical link 2341a when the chain is wound on the drum and thus'coacts with winding drum bosses 31 and winding drum channel 33 in forming an extension of the channel to support link 2311a. Accordingly, winding drum 3|, when in a position of complete release, may be rotated in excess of 360, and the chain may be wound thereon through such rotation without one chain link engaging any other chain link. In practice, it is possible to attain a drum rotation in excess of 500 without any two portions of the chain interengaging. Thus, by providing the coasting anchor member, channel and bosses, the capacity of the winding drum is substantially increased, and maximum take-up of the chain and the brake 4) which is adaptedto rerigging to which it is attached is accordingly possible without loss of power.

Furthermore, by utilizing anchor member 38 to attach chain 23 to winding drum 3| and by utilizing a winding drum of the nature described, the center line of the winding surface for the chain is ina single vertical plane, all of which adds to the strength, rigidity and compactness of the brake mechanism and its housing.

The vertical links 23a of chain 23 are shown as being held in spaced relationship to the hub portion 32 of the drum and the end of anchor member 38 by the bosses and convexly curved portions of the link supporting surfaces. If desired, the bosses and convexly curved portions may be disposed nearer the axis of the winding drum, which would permit the edges of links 23a to rest against hub portion 32. This modification would have the effect of increasing the strength of the construction and only slightly increases the friction, as hub portion 32 and the anchor member 38 are arranged and particularly adapted to support directly the chain links which would engage it.

Thus, through the structure disclosed and also by positioning the pivot of anchor member 38 as close as possible to shaft l3, winding of the chain in excess of 360 is made possible, with the center line of the chain kept sufficiently close to the drum axis that relatively short resistance arms and adequate power are maintained while the chain is wound through a substantially extended arc. Furthermore, the drum is so constructed that it is adapted to support the chain with a minimum of friction,

It may now be seen that I have provided a hand brake drum for a railroad car or the like which attains the several objects above set forth in a thoroughly practical and efficient manner.

As many possible embodiment may be made of the above invention and as many changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. In apparatus for manually setting railroad car brakes including, in combination, a rotatable winding drum having a channel extending around its outer edge in the central portion thereof, a chain, an anchor member connecting said chain to said drum, said drum having a series of pairs of link supporting surfaces, each pair of surfaces having the central portions thereof convexly curved and being angularly disposed with respect to the preceding and following pairs of surfaces, said channel being adapted to receive the alternate vertical links of saidchain and said link supporting surfaces being adapted to receive the alternate transverse links of said chain, and a pair of bosses formed on each pair of link supporting surfaces and adapted to contact the leading ends of said transverse links when said chain is wound on said drum, whereby major portions of said links are held in spaced relationship to said drum when said chain is wound thereon.

2. In-apparatus for manually setting railroad car brakes including, in combination, a rotatable winding drum having a channel extending around its outer edge in the central portion thereof, a chain, an anchor member connecting said chain to said drum, said drum having a series of pairs of link supporting surfaces, each pair of surfaces having the central portions .thereof convexly curved and being angularly disposed with respect ed to support the leading ends of said transverse links and said convexly curved portions being adapted to support the central portions of said transverse links, whereby major portions of said transverse links are held in spaced relationship to said drum.

3. In apparatus for manually setting railroad car brakes including,'in combination, a rotatable winding drum having a channel extending around its outer edge in the central portion thereof, a chain, an anchor member pivotally connected to said drum adjacent the axis thereof, said chain being connected to said anchor member, said drum having a series of pairs of link supporting surfaces, each pair of surfaces being angularly disposed with respect to the preceding and fol lowing pairs of surfaces, said channel being adapted to receive the alternate vertical links of said chain and said link-supporting surfaces be- 1 ing adapted to receive the alternate transverse links of said chain, said link supporting surfaces being irregular whereby when said transverse links are in contact with the surfaces, said links contact these surfacesat a points.

4. In apparatus for manually setting railroad car brakes including, in combination, a rotatable winding drum having a channel extending around its outer edge in the central portion thereof, a chain, an anchor member pivotally connected to plurality of spaced said drum adjacent the-axisthereof, said chain ,beingconriected to said anchor member, said drum having a series of pairs of link supporting surfaces, each pair of surfaces having the central portions thereof convexly curved and being angularly disposed with respect to the preceding and following pairs of surfaces, the channel being adapted to receive the alternate vertical links of said chain and the link supporting surfaces being adapted to receive the alternate transverse links of said chain, bosses formed on each pair of link supporting surfaces for supporting each of said transverse links at a plurality of spaced points, and means on said anchor member to hold a link of said chain in surmounted relationship over said anchor member in the same plane as the other links of said chain when said chain is wound on said drum. v I

2 RICHARD W. BURNETT. 

